Netflix was founded in 1997 as a mail-order company that rented and sold DVDs over the internet. Today Netflix is the world’s leading internet television network with more than 36 million members in 40 countries enjoying more than one billion hours of TV shows and movies every month.  On a normal weeknight, Netflix accounts for almost a third of all internet traffic entering North American homes. That’s more than YouTube, Hulu, Amazon.com, HBO Go, iTunes, and BitTorrent combined. What’s more, like other networks that started out broadcasting other peoples content (e.g., AMC, HBO), Netflix has recently begun creating new content in the form of original series such as House of Cards and Hemlock Grove.  So how did a DVD mail order company become the world’s largest provider of on-demand internet streaming media?  Let’s find out.

Netflix was established in 1997 with a new business model of renting DVDs through a mail-order service and in 1999 they launched their subscription service, offering unlimited rentals for one low monthly subscription. By 2007 Netflix had 7.5 million members in their subscription service. That was also the year they introduced streaming, which allows members to instantly watch television shows and movies on their personal computers.  Streaming had already been out for a few years, thanks to Microsoft, RealNetworks, and Macromedia, and really caught on when YouTube was launched in 2005 as a video sharing website.  And in 2007, Hulu, a joint venture of NBC Universal Television Group, Fox Broadcasting Company, and Disney-ABC Television Group started as a website offering on-demand streaming video of TV shows, movies, webisodes and other new media, trailers, and clips, and from NBC, Fox, ABC, TBS, and many other networks and studios.

By 2011, Netflix had 20 million members and realized that most of their customers were trending toward the streaming service.  Seeing this change in customer preference lead the company to a rare misstep. To enable Netflix to focus its resources and energy on acquiring streaming content and to phase out the less profitable DVD-by-mail service, Netflix unveiled plans to raise prices and separate into two companies—a DVD mailer called Qwikster and a streaming entity still under the Netflix name. The split was never well-articulated and Netflix lost millions of customers (and market capital) in the process.  But after realizing this move had backfired, they killed Qwikster and mounted one of the all-time great comebacks. Not only did they focus like a laser on streaming movies and television shows, but began to developing their own original content.

In a move that has industry insiders saying that Netflix wants to become the next HBO, the company has invested hundreds of millions of dollars in original series, such as the political drama House of Cards, which stars Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright, the murder mystery Hemlock Grove and Orange Is the New Black, a show set in a women’s prison that will air in July. They also acquired the rights to and produced the fourth season of the critically-acclaimed comedy Arrested Development, which will air later this month, and co-produce the second season of Lilyhammer starring Steven Van Zandt.  If that wasn’t enough, they have also created a Ricky Gervais show called Derek and a children’s show called Turbo: F.A.S.T. that is co-produced with DreamWorks Animation.

Currently Netflix is taking a big gamble that a lot of people will want to stream entertainment to their mobile personal electronic devices rather than stay stuck in their living rooms and their cable boxes.  If they’re right, the next few years could see a monumental shift in how we watch ‘television.’

Images:

http://mereorthodoxy.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/house-of-cards-final-poster.jpg

http://i.i.com.com/cnwk.1d/i/tim/2013/01/09/ad-netflix_610x447.png

Sources:

https://signup.netflix.com/MediaCenter/Press

http://www.theverge.com/2013/4/30/4287290/netflix-continues-original-programming-onslaught-with-orange-is-the-new-black-july-11

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media-network/media-network-blog/2013/mar/01/history-streaming-future-connected-tv

http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/netflix-inc-history/

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-05-09/netflix-reed-hastings-survive-missteps-to-join-silicon-valleys-elite

Breaking Bad is the story of a respectable fifty year old high school chemistry teacher who finds out that he’s dying of cancer and turns to a life of crime to secure his family’s financial future. The show, which airs on AMC, has many cinematic elements, including a main character that has a drastic transformation over time, something most television shows don’t do.  In fact, most main characters have pretty much the same world view in the pilot episode as they do in the series finale, so presenting someone who changes so dramatically throughout the course of the series was considered very risky at the time. So how did such an unusual story get on the air?

Show creator Vince Gilligan said it all started with a gripe session with his friend, Tom Schnauz, about how hard it was to find good writing work. They had both been staff writers for The X-Files during the last seasons of that show, but hadn’t worked much since the series was cancelled. Tom happened to mention a New York Times article about a drug dealer who was arrested for cooking crystal meth in the back of an RV, and they started joking about giving up screenwriting and just traveling around the country in an RV cooking meth and making money.

As they were talking, the idea for a main character popped into his head—a middle aged man who transforms himself from a good man into a ruthless criminal. He then had to figure out why his character turns to a life of crime, and how he had the means to get himself into that world. So the idea for the story started with the main character and that characters transformation, which Gilligan describes as a transformation from ‘Mr. Chips to Scarface.’

“I had this full-fledged character, this good, law-abiding man who suddenly decides to become a criminal. I was so intrigued by the character that I didn’t really give much thought to how well it would sell, which is good because Breaking Bad is such an odd, dark story, it’s not easily sold.”

Fortunately, Gilligan had worked with a couple of people at Sony Pictures Television who had once bought a pilot script from him and nearly had it in the pre-production phase before CBS pulled out of the project. Despite this setback, the Sony executives said that they loved his work, and asked him to bring any new show ideas to them first. As it turned out, they loved the story for Breaking Bad, so they all began pitching the idea.

Despite their passionate efforts, Breaking Bad was turned down all over town. Executives at TNT loved it, but they couldn’t put a story about a meth dealer on their network. They asked if the main character—Walter White—could be a counterfeiter instead, but that didn’t fit Gilligan’s dark vision of Walt’s descent into the criminal world. HBO executives didn’t show any interest at all. FX liked it, and actually bought the pilot script, but later decided against doing the show. When AMC decided that they wanted to do the show, FX graciously let them buy the rights, and in February of 2007, AMC announced casting and production for a one hour pilot for Breaking Bad.

Now they had to cast an actor who could make Walter White remain a sympathetic character for as long as possible, even as he descended further and further into darkness. Though it was not immediately apparent to everyone involved in the selection process, Brian Cranston—who was best known for playing the father on Malcolm in the Middle—was clearly the perfect choice (he won three consecutive Best Actor Emmys for his role as Walter White). Cranston said he had no idea how intense and dark the story was going to get, but he did understand that Walt was a very unusual character for a television series:

“I did know when we first met that what he [Gilligan] was attempting to do had never been done in the history of television, is to start a character out one way—as you get to know them that way—and completely change that character into someone else.”

The story was originally to be set in Riverside, California, but setting the story and producing it in Albuquerque, New Mexico offered financial benefits, as well as some very visually interesting locations and beautiful skies. Five years after the pilot aired, critics continue to praise the show for its writing, directing, editing, and acting. A reporter for The New Yorker said, “Breaking Bad is an explicitly addictive series, full of cliffhangers, with a visual flair that is rare for television.”

The series fifth and final season was split into two 8 episode parts: the first half premiered in July 2012, and the second half will premiere August 2013.

Photo:
http://blog.sfgate.com/tgoodman/2010/03/12/breaking-bad-creator-vince-gilligan-celebrity-podcast-interview/

References:
Script Tease, by Dylan Callaghan
http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/television/2012/08/27/120827crte_television_nussbaum
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breaking_Bad
http://www.emmys.com/shows/breaking-bad
http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=t9mtPhZEJoQ&feature=fvwp
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIoRUtPo34Q

By now we would imagine that everyone has heard of “Bollywood,” the informal name for the vast Hindi-language film industry in India. But did you know that Bollywood also includes a huge television component as well as film? As it turns out, Bollywood is one of the biggest entertainment industries in the entire world today. In fact, Bollywood produces more films and television shows than any other country, even more than the United States. India’s large population and its people’s strong interest in entertainment, has made Bollywood a force to rival even Hollywood. So let’s find out more.

The name Bollywood is really more of a concept than an actual place. Unlike Hollywood, which is a town, Bollywood represents all of the Hindi-language film and television in India. The name is a mash-up of Bombay and Hollywood but the industry is not based only in Bombay (now called Mumbai) but all over the country. And global interest in Bollywood has been increasing in the last decade. In fact, Hollywood produced crossover films such as The Guru and Marigold: An Adventure in India in an effort to popularize Bollywood-themes and bridge the gap between Indian and American cinema. And with the recent success of films like Slum Dog Millionaire and The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, interest in films made in India and about India has now become more mainstream.

Film in India goes all the way back to the beginning of cinema itself. The Lumiere Brothers—the first film makers in history—introduced cinema to India when they screened Cinematography in Bombay in 1896. By 1913, the home-grown Indian film industry began production on the first silent feature film made entirely in India. By the 1930s, the Indian industry was producing over 200 films per year, and in 1931 the first Indian movie, a musical, was released. The movie was such a big hit (like The Jazz Singer in the US) that most production companies quickly switched to sound.

After this, developments in the world of Indian cinema were rapid. World War 2, massive social changes, and independence from Britain completely reshaped Indian cinema. Before these changes, films were being made in various Indian languages with religion being the dominant theme. By the 1950s and 1960s, the themes changed to social issues relevant at the time. And by the 1970s, the “masala” film—the quintessential Bollywood movie—burst onto the scene. It included the elements we all think of when we think of Bollywood: bright colorful costumes, and a lot of song and dance numbers. In fact, song and dance remains the signature of Hindi films, which is why many Bollywood films tend to be musicals.

Also by the 1970s, television in India began to really expand. With such a large and diverse population, speaking several different languages, it’s not hard to imagine thousands of programs being broadcast in many languages. In India, film and television go hand-in-hand; and almost always they incorporate Bollywood-type dance numbers. Today, about 33% of all Indian households own a television, and with a population of 1.27 billion people, that’s a lot of television sets. As of 2010, the country has over 565 channels, of which 150 are premium pay channels.

So now we can see that Bollywood is not just a ‘want-to-be Hollywood’, but a sector of the entertainment industry that has a signature of its own. And as its popularity grows globally, it should be an entertainment force for many years to come.

Photos:
http://www.tvguideindia.com/images/slider-1.jpg
http://blogs.thenews.com.pk/blogs/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Bollywood.jpg

Sources:
http://www.tvguideindia.com/succes-of-india-film-industry.php
https://www.bollywoodtourism.com/bollywood-history

With the new Star Trek movie, Star Trek: Into Darkness soon to premier, ‘trekkies’ all over the planet will be lining up to see their favorite characters journey through space, fighting alien bad guys as they have so many times in the past. But did you realize that this will be the 12th motion picture of this franchise? And what about the four television series that spun-off from the original Star Trek series show which originally broadcasted in the 1960s; Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: Voyager and Star Trek: Enterprise? So that got us thinking; how did this story begin and how did it survive for almost fifty years? Let’s find out.

Star Trek is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry that follows the adventures of the starship USS Enterprise and its crew during the 2260s. Roddenberry actually was a jet pilot for Pan Am before moving to Hollywood to try his hand as a television writer. As a freelance writer, Roddenberry wrote scripts for Highway Patrol, Have Gun–Will Travel and other series before creating and producing his own short-lived television series, The Lieutenant in 1963.

Around 1964, Roddenberry got the idea for a new series set in futuristic space but was actually inspired by Westerns such as Wagon Train. He even pitched it as a “Wagon Train to the Stars”, and it was picked up by Desilu Studios. The first TV pilot “The Cage”, starred Jeffrey Hunter as Captain Christopher Pike and put a woman (Roddenberry’s wife Majel Barrett) as first officer. Unfortunately, the pilot was thought of as “too cerebral” by the network and was rejected by NBC. But in an unprecedented move, Lucille Ball, who owned Desilu Studios, persuaded NBC management to consider a second pilot, because she liked Roddenberry and believed in the project.

So Roddenberry shot a second pilot, called “Where No Man Has Gone Before.” Due to the production delay between pilots, they had to cast a new captain because Jeff Hunter had signed to do a movie, so they found a young actor named William Shatner to play the role, and they changed the character to James T. Kirk. They also moved the lone alien, Mr. Spock, from science officer to First Officer, and made Barrett the nurse (some say the networks forced this because they didn’t believe the audience would accept a woman as First Officer).

The first regular episode of Star Trek aired on Thursday, September 8, 1966 and initially received high ratings, which soon trailed off—so much so that NBC threatened to cancel the show during its second season. In another unprecedented first for television, the show’s fan base began a letter-writing campaign, petitioning the network to keep the show on the air. It worked, and NBC renewed the show, but cut its budget and moved it to the dreaded ‘Friday night death slot.’ In protest Roddenberry resigned from the show and NBC canceled the show after its third season.

After its cancellation, the franchise’s new owner, Paramount sold the syndication rights to the show in an effort to help recoup the original series’ production losses. Reruns began in the fall of 1969 and by the late 1970s the series aired in over 150 domestic and 60 international markets. This helped the show develop a cult following, and convinced Roddenberry to begin developing a new series, Star Trek: Phase II, in 1975. And as science fiction movies in the mid-1970s blossomed (Star Wars and Close Encounters of the Third Kind), Paramount adapted the planned pilot episode of Phase II into the feature film, Star Trek: The Motion Picture, and the rest is history.

So after 47 years, five television series and 11 motion pictures, the 12th movie Star Trek: Into Darkness is about to premier. This will be the second picture of this new franchise, starring Chris Pine, Zoe Saldana and Zachary Quinto and directed by J.J. Abrams of LOST fame. The first movie in 2009 grossed $385 million and made Star Trek viable, vibrant and cool again. Early reviews say this one is even better, and we’re sure lines will be forming well before the first opening. We know because we’ll be there.

Photos:
http://a.abcnews.go.com/images/Entertainment/ld_star_trek_cast_ll_120820_wmain.jpg
http://www.wired.com/images_blogs/underwire/2009/05/spock_kirk_660.jpg

Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Where_No_Man_Has_Gone_Before
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Trek
http://www.roddenberry.com/corporate-gene-biography
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gene_Roddenberry

AMC, American Movie Classics began in 1984, and has since presented film favorites from almost every genre and decade. Yet this “movie channel” is the only cable network in history to have won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series four years in a row, as well as three consecutive Golden Globes for Best Television Drama Series. Besides the prestigious awards for new content, its shows (Mad Men, Breaking Bad, The Walking Dead and Hell on Wheels) are some of the highest rated shows on television. So how did a movie channel become such an innovator of original content? Let’s find out.

AMC started broadcasting on October 1, 1984, as a premium cable channel that aired classic black and white movies of the 1930’s, 1940’s and 1950’s, in a commercial-free, unedited format. By 1987, the channel became the first channel available on basic cable television systems and by 1989, AMC had 39 million subscribers in the United States. AMC was so connected to movies that they partnered with Martin Scorsese’s, “The Film Foundation” to raise awareness (and money) for film preservation.

To attract new audiences to old movies, AMC would do innovative broadcasts such as: Monsterfest, a week-long marathon of scary movies that aired in late October, and Fear Friday, a horror movie double feature which aired every Friday night. They also broadcasted showings of silent film classics, and showed campy old classic movie trailers, drive-in movie concession stand ads that used to get folks popping out of their car to get some popcorn, and music videos pulled from classic musical movies from the period, that really gave viewer’s a sense of the cultural significance of film in America.

In 1996, AMC experimented with original content when it aired its first original series, Remember WENN, a show about a radio station during the 1930’s. The show was well received by both critics and fans, but was abruptly cancelled after its fourth season when a change of management took over whose agenda was to stick with an all movies format. Ironically, in September 2002, AMC decided to change its format, and began to broadcast movies from all eras, mostly because their advertising sponsors wanted more relevant content for their target consumers. They also made the decision to start airing original content, and presented their short-lived reality television series called FilmFakers, featuring out-of-work actors.

Then, in 2007, they struck gold. AMC debuted the original series Mad Men, a period piece about Madison Avenue advertising executives in the 1960’s. The show was immediately hailed by viewers and critics alike as the best thing on television, and went on to win 15 Emmys. The establishment of Mad Men, followed by Breaking Bad in 2008, gave AMC a reputation on par with premium cable networks HBO and Showtime, both of which rejected Mad Men before it came to AMC.

In 2010, AMC debuted another blockbuster show: The Walking Dead and followed that with the contemporary Western Hell on Wheels and the murder mystery The Killing in 2011. They actually canceled The Killing after two seasons but decided to revive it due to a huge casting win by landing accomplished movie actor Peter Sarsgaard (Knight and Day, An Education, Jarhead, Green Lantern), for the show’s third season. And not to miss out in other television venues, AMC premiered four reality television shows in 2012: Inside the DHS, The Pitch, Comic Book Men and Small Town Security.

We hope that AMC—which is owned and operated by AMC Networks Inc. and its sister networks which include IFC, Sundance Channel and WE TV—plans to continue its groundbreaking new content into the future. We’ll have our popcorn ready.

PHOTOS:
http://images5.fanpop.com/image/photos/26300000/Hell-on-Wheels-hell-on-wheels-26369704-1600-1200.jpg
http://subtitlebox.org/pictures/74/50/105074.jpg

SOURCES:
http://www.amcnetworks.com/about_story
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AMC_(TV_channel)
http://www.amcnetworks.com/brand_amc
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AMC_Networks

Some of the biggest stars in film got their start on the small screen. Some of them became world famous while still on television, and other became big stars after making the transition to film. Many of these actors are listed among the highest paid actors in Hollywood. Let’s take a look at some of the big film stars whose road to stardom started on television.

Tom Hanks: With so many successful films—Sleepless in Seattle, Forest Gump, Philadelphia, Apollo 13, Saving Private Ryan, Cast Away, Toy Story, and The Di Vinci Code—it’s hard to believe that Tom Hanks got his first big break on television. He playing the role of Kip Wilson in the ABC comedy Bosom Buddies (1980-1982); and after the show went off the air, he continued in television doing guest appearances on show such as Taxi, Family Ties and Happy Days. It was while he was working on Happy Days that Hanks met Ron Howard, who decided to cast Hank’s as the lead in his movie Splash.

George Clooney: It is even harder to believe that George Clooney worked as a television actor for two decades before his film career really took off. Everyone knows he became famous while played Dr. Doug Ross on NBC’s hit medical drama ER (1994-1999); but did you know that in the fifteen years before that, he played many small reoccurring roles on television shows such as The Facts of Life and Roseanne. Clooney started making films—including Batman and Robin and Three Kings—while still working on ER. After leaving the show, his career really began to take off, with films such as The Perfect Storm and Ocean’s Eleven.

Jennifer Lawrence: With her Academy Award for Best Actress for Silver Linings Playbook and the incredible success of The Hunger Games, it seems as if Jennifer Lawrence was an overnight success. But Lawrence too started her acting career in television. For three years, she played Lauren on the TBS sitcom The Bill Engvall Show (2007-2009). She also had guest appearances on shows such as Cold Case, Medium, and Monk. Lawrence started making film while still working in television; and in 2010, her film career got a big boost when she received her first Academy Award nomination for Best Actress for her role in the film Winter’s Bones.

Johnny Depp: Although Johnny Depp started his acting career with a few small roles in feature films, he became well known by playing Officer Tom Hanson on the television series 21 Jump Street (1987-1990). After that, when Depp went back to acting for the big screen, he was getting lead roles in films such as Cry Baby, Edward Scissorhands, What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, Ed Wood, Donnie Brasco, and Sleepy Hollow. Then in 2003, he hit incredible box office success with The Pirates of the Caribbean. But even with all that success, it’s apparent that Depp hasn’t forgotten his television roots: he returned to the role of Office Tom Hanson in a very funny un-credited appearance in the 2010 film version of 21 Jump Street

Leonardo DiCaprio: In his teen years, Leonardo DiCaprio did a few commercials and got quite a few roles on television. He had a reoccurring role on the soap opera Santa Barbara; and was a cast member on the short running series Parenthood and the sitcom Growing Pains. Then, in 1992, he got his big break in feature films. Robert De Niro chose him to play the lead role in This Boy’s Life. After that, he got the opportunity to work with Johnny Depp in What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, and also played the kid in The Quick and the Dead. Then in 1997, he played Jack Dawson in Titanic, and became one of the biggest stars in Hollywood.

You might want to sit down for this…

Now that your resolution to sit less and exercise more has inevitably fallen through, it’s time to look ahead to what movies you can blame for plopping yourself in a seat and shoveling Snow-Caps into your face.

Twenty-thirteen is shaping up to bring theatergoers more of the same. And we’re not saying that’s a bad thing.

Reboots, comic action and adaptations top the list of the most anticipated offerings for 2013.

Christmas comes early (Dec. 20) with the release of “Anchorman: The Legend Continues.” Will Ferrell, Paul Rudd, David Koechner and Steve Carell return to provide your unfunny, close-talking co-worker with an entirely new set of overused, poorly impersonated quotes.

Your other resolution of reading more books can also be curbed until next year, as 2013 will bring us “Oz: The Great and Powerful,” “The Great Gatsby,” and “Great Expectations.” If you are starting to feel guilty about not following through, wait for the video releases and turn on the subtitles. That’s pretty much like reading the book anyway.

Just in time for summer blockbuster season, comic fans can look forward to “Superman” reboot, “Man of Steel” (June 24), “The Wolverine” (July 26) and “Thor: The Dark World” (November 8.) The precursor to this yearly actiongasm (we just made up that word) brings back crowd favorite Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark in “Iron Man 3″ (May 3.)

More tantalizing entrees for 2013 include: the second installment of “The Hunger Games,” the 20-years-in-the-making “Ender’s Game,” “Star Trek Into the Darkness,” “The Lone Ranger,” the reboot of “Carrie” and many, many others.

While the next couple weeks of releases won’t bring any Oscar contenders, the dog days of winter are slathered with hearty helpings of popcorn pleasers.

Zeta-Jones, Wahlberg and Crowe … oh my! “Broken City” (Jan. 18) is the tale of ex-cop-turned-private eye (Mark Wahlberg) who gets mixed in a bit too deep after a man (Russell Crowe) hires him to look into his cheating wife. “Book of Eli”‘s Allen Hughes directs, while an always-watchable Catherine Zeta-Jones and the underused Barry Pepper round this substantial cast.

Jason Statham and guns go together like teenagers and used cars, public pools and snack bars, early winter and big-budget action movies. So if you’re looking for some serviceable action played out by a journeyman cast, check out “Parker” on Jan. 25.

That same week features “43,” the all-star cast equivalent of movies like “Valentine’s Day” and “New Year’s Eve.” The formula is simple: Assemble a smorgasbord of A-list actors and keep costs down by only requiring said actors to appear in two scenes. Hugh Jackman, Emma Stone, Elizabeth Banks, Naomi Watts, Kristen Bell, Richard Gere, Halle Berry, Uma Thurman — the list goes on — star in what is described by IMDB.com as “an ensemble comedy intertwining different tales.” We describe it as simply “eye candy.”

So, don’t fret that the holidays are over. Grab some leftover stocking stuffers, head out to the theater and treat yourself to another year of not reading, not exercising and not caring that you accomplished anything.

We are just joking….

OK. That’s not true.

But, now that Lucasfilm and Disney are under the same creative umbrella, who knows what the next editions of the franchise will look like?

This purchase went from maintaining the interest of Wall Street’s pocket books to grabbing the hearts and minds of “Star Wars” fanboys and girls everywhere, as the additional announcement was made that “Star Wars Episode VII” is slated for a 2015 release date.

Joal Ryan of E! Online recommends, “Immediately Expel Episodes 1-3 From the Canon: While many ‘Star Wars’ fans presumably have already implemented this proposal, thusly stated in a tweet by blogger Benjamin Morris of Skeptical Sports Analysis, in their own homes and personal movie collections, imagine the epic cathartic release of Disney actually removing the adventures of Qui-Gon Jinn, Jar Jar Binks and Halloween-mask favorite Darth Maul from the official Hollywood film vault, which doesn’t exist, but should.”

The “Star Wars” canon is so extensive that it is almost impossible to predict what the new episodes will consist of in the way of plot. But, having so many heavy-hitter directors (who have worked with both Lucas and Disney) is sure to provide some intense speculation on creative direction.

With Halloween quickly approaching, many Americans will flock to films “Nightmare On Elm Street,” “Friday the 13^th” or one of the 23 “Saw” movies to satisfy their abject autumns. But much like your pillowcase needs to be brimming with more than Mallo Cups, this season’s film selection could use some foreign flavors as well.

_________

“Martyrs” – France, 2008

A blood-filled éclair is not an appetizing French horror offering. But Pascal Laugier’s 2008 “Martyrs” sure is. “Martyrs”’s main character Anna stumbles across a woman know only as Mademoiselle, who explains that she belongs to a secret society that seeks to discover the secrets of the afterlife through the creation of martyrs — torturing young women until they transcend this world. Why do we watch this stuff?

 _________

“Audition” – Japan, 1999

According to the Wikipedia entry for “Audition”: “Among filmmakers featured on US-TV channel Bravo‘s “100 Scariest Movie Moments” (on which the film appeared at number 11), notable horror directors Eli Roth, John Landis and Rob Zombie claimed to have found the film very difficult to watch, given its grisly content; Landis said that the film was so disturbing that he couldn’t enjoy it at all. Curious?

 _________

“Let the Right One In” – Sweden, 2008

Utilizing Sweden’s wintry landscape and the faded look of a 1980s setting to eerie effect, “Let the Right One In” chronicles a genuinely moving tale of first love between a bullied, troubled child (Kåre Hedebrant) and the girl who moves in next door (Lina Leandersson) who isn’t exactly a girl (a vampire, maybe?) – Indy Week

 _________

“Suspiria” – Italy, 1977

“Suspiria” is one of Italian Director Dario Argento’s most successful feature films and falls into the “giallo” genre, which is characterized as crime fiction and mystery and is credited as a major influence on the slasher genre. “Suspiria” follows American ballet student Suzy Banyo, who transfers to a prestigious dance academy in Germany, only to discover that it is controlled by a coven of witches. Enjoy the visuals and the soundtrack.

 _________

“The Plague of the Zombies” – England, 1966

If you’ve never seen a film produced by legendary English horror mavens Hammer, give this precursor to “Night of the Living Dead” a try. Hammer Films was founded in 1934 and is best known for a series of Gothic “Hammer Horror” films made from the mid-1950s until the 1970s.

 _________

“Ringu” – Japan, 1998

Everybody likes “The Ring,” right? “Ringu” is the Japanese movie that the American version was based off of. So, if you’re looking for a titillating horror experience, try “Ringu” – it’s in there!

 _________

“Diabolique” – France, 1955

“Before ‘Psycho,’ ‘Peeping Tom,’ and ‘Repulsion,’ there was ‘Diabolique.’ This thriller from Henri‑Georges Clouzot, which shocked audiences in Europe and the U.S., is the story of two women — the fragile wife and the willful mistress of the sadistic headmaster of a boys’ boarding school — who hatch a daring revenge plot.” – The Criterion Collection

 _________

“The Wicker Man” – England, 1973

Before Nicolas Cage ruined the title for American audiences, Christopher Lee enchanted viewers with a strange blend of crime drama, Wiccan hocus pocus and the spritely music of Paul Giovanni. Plot: A detective journeys to a remote island to investigate a missing girl and may or may not end up on the losing end of a gigantic burning idol.

 _________

“The Devil’s Backbone” – Mexico, 2001

Guillermo del Toro, who brought us “Pan’s Labrynth” introduces 12-year-old Carlos, who is sent to an ominous boy’s orphanage after the death of his father, which he discovers is haunted and has many dark secrets that he must uncover.

 _________

“Repulsion” – England, 1965

Roman Polanski’s first English-language film. ‘Nuff said. 

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

The foliage is barely changing hues and many new Fall shows are already on the chopping block.

Yes, the shows detailed in the article below are in danger of falling into oblivion before Santa arrives… TV is just like that.

It’s a mixed bag as to why these shows aren’t pulling their weight: tough time slot, too cutesy, too stinky, too much reliance on an animal… too much of a Jersey accent (finally, we have tired of Jersey!)

The thing they have in common is that they are all under-performing and may be gone for good before most of us ever get a chance to see them for ourselves. The article points to a few that might get a little more time to shine, but not too much more.

Producer Jimmy Fallen of “Guys With Kids” might get few more courtesy episodes, but the consensus is that that’s just because he’s Jimmy Fallon, and it has nothing to do with the merits of the show, which critics have panned.

Critics also seem to hate ABC’s “The Neighbors.” What could be bad about aliens in suburbia?

What could be tricky about a cast featuring a monkey? (NBC’s “Animal Practice”)

What could go wrong with a supernatural thriller on Park Avenue? (ABC’s “666 Park Avenue”)

Who could predict that a period piece in Vegas would be a disappointment? (CBS’ “Vegas”)

Not me.

Truth is – I haven’t really given any of these shows much of a chance to know if they deserve more of a chance and neither has anybody else. And that is precisely why they might not be here to kick around for that much longer.

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